Twin Soul
by lovingjohnbender4ever
Summary: John and Claire are together for 3 months, and though he likes her a lot, he feels she doesn't understand him. What will happen when a certain girl appears that seems to be his twin soul? ClairXBender, BenderXOC, AndyXAllison. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first The Breakfast Club fic that I will post here. It will probably be kind of long. I hope you guys will enjoy it and let me know if you like it. Also, if you have anything that you would want me to add to the story, or any sugesstions, let me know and I will follow your advice ^^**

The sun was hitting him in the face and thought he hated it, he was forced to wake up. His head was feeling dizzy and he felt confused. He rose from the bed, rubbing his eyes and it took him a second to remember who he was and where he was. Then the depression hit him. He damn hated who he was and especially WHERE he was. Memories of last night came crushing in his head fast and he just tried to push them out of his mind. His left hand was hurting a lot, as well as his back and chest, but he was used to it so he didn't exactly mind it. He just wanted to get out of there. That house always made him feel somehow stressed, a lot depressed and very pissed, whenever he was inside it.

After he took a shower and changed his cloths, he fixed his hair fast, feeling damn happy that he had no bruises on his face. If he would have had, he wouldn't have been able to go to school that day. He didn't want Claire to ever see him hurt. And well, at least, not with his face fucked up. She had actually seen some of his bruises and scars, even helped him at times by bandaging him or cleaning his wounds. But the more that happened, the less he liked it. He was feeling she was getting the idea that he was weak, and he hated that. Though he knew his girlfriend loved him, and only wanted to help him by obvious reasons as feeling hurt when she saw him hurt, he still didn't liked it. It was just irritating and frustrating. But no matter how hard he tried, Claire still found out or realized whenever he was hurt and she wouldn't leave him alone unless he allowed her to take care of him.

"This silly bitch and all her worry..." he babbled to himself, rolling his eyes.

He liked Claire a lot. He really did. He was just very unused to people actually giving a fuck about him. No one had ever cared for him, and he liked it that way. He had spend his entire life making sure that people didn't saw, that people didn't knew and most of all, that they didn't cared even if they happened to find out. His plan had worked really great... Until that Saturday morning detention when he met those 4 freaks. They had changed his life more than he ever thought, more than he wanted... And right now, almost 3 months after, he didn't knew how to escape them anymore.

After he made sure none of his wounds or bruises were visible, he just tried to smile a bit and went out of his room. Going down the stairs, he could hear the loud sound of the TV playing and knew his father was most probably in the living room. He hoped he would just let him leave without disturbing him. But as soon as he was in the hall, he knew that was not going to happen.

"Where are you going?" his father asked.

"School?" John said fast, trying to keep this short.

His father got up from the couch and came closer to him, looking at him with a pissed off expression that would have probably freaked out anyone. But John just crossed his arms and looked at him, careless and calm. This guy was unable to scare him anymore. He already knew what to expect from him.

"Will that red-headed, snobbish, annoying bitch be there as well?"

John's expression turned from calm to pissed off as soon as he heard that. "Don't you dare talk about her like that!" he snapped. "Her name is Claire and she is my girlfriend!"

"Your girlfriend?" His father laughed. "Oh, that's cute. What the fuck would a little idiot like you know about women?"

"I do treat them better than you, that's for sure. I don't beat them or treat them like shit the way you always did with mom." John said, staring at the man with rage and disgust.

His father slapped him two times, really hard, and John concentrated on remaining in his feet. He was shaking of fury but he knew that if he would have been too bad-ass, he would have only got himself into worse trouble, so he just tried really hard to stop himself from trying to punch his dad. He opened his eyes and spit the blood he was feeling in his mouth on the floor. It was probably from his teeth or something, he didn't exactly know or cared. He looked up at his father, with no expression at all and trying to keep being calm.

"Are you done? Can I leave?" he asked bored.

"You became really arrogant lately."

"Guess I'm growing up. If you think I am still that silly, small, little child who you could scare the fuck out of, you are wrong!" he yelled.

He sometimes hated himself for having the big mouth he possessed. One that could never really shut. However, he was also quite proud of it as well. It was a weird feeling. His father hit him again, this time a punch in his stomach that made him fall down. He hated falling down. Just made him feel more like a child. He was wondering if his father just liked seeing him in pain, or if he simply adored hitting stuff. He couldn't actually decide on one. Maybe it was both.

When his mother came, announcing that she had cooked what his father had required, John caught the perfect moment and got back up in his legs, running fast to the door and outside of the house. His father had hit him few more times before his mom appeared, but it was far better than he expected. Of course he was in pain and his nose and lips were bleeding, but that didn't stop him from running like a mother-fucker. And to his happiness, his father didn't follow him.

By the speed he had in his legs at that moment, he reached the school in no time. He was late, but that was nothing new to him. Most of the students were already inside and the very few who were still on the ground were hurrying to get to classes. However, Claire was sitting in front, looking at her watch and as always, waiting for him.

_'Great...' _he thought, rolling his eyes. He could have tried to avoid her, but it would have been a useless waste of energy. She had already saw him.

"John!" she said, on a cheerful tone, hurrying to get next to him.

Claire was not the mean, spoiled Princess she had been when John first met her. She was not going out with preps anymore, she was not arrogant and bitchy as she used to be. John had been a huge and strong impact in her life, changing her view on people and transforming her into a whole new person. She had given up on her old friends, her reputation and even to a big part of her personality in order to be able to actually date him. Now her only friends were Allison, Andy and Brian, and though everything she had done had been a sacrifice, she had no regrets.

The only thing that bothered John about his girlfriend was her concern and her constant obsession about taking care of him. Growing up used to standing alone and carrying for himself on his own, the rebel boy was not comfortable with having someone all over him, trying to protect him. It somehow even offended him, as if she thought he couldn't do anything without her help. And even more, she seemed to mentally and emotionally break down whenever she saw him hurt. Therefor, it was not a surprise to John when he saw Claire's eyes filling with tears the minute she saw him.

"Oh, baby... What happened?" she asked, putting both of her hands on his face.

"Nothing happened and please stop." he said, removing her hands with his own and making a step back.

"What was it this time?" she asked again, as if she had not even heard him.

"My old man hates you, that's what happened." he explained shortly, taking a cigarette from the pack he had in the pocket of his jacket and lighting it up. He took a strong puff and looked away, not really wanting to see Claire's face in that moment.

"What you mean..?" the red-headed girl asked confused.

"He saw me with you. In many different occasions. Didn't took him long to find out you're a rich kid. Then all Hell break lose. At first he said you don't really love me, that you just stay with me so you can break up with me and make me look like shit. Then, when he saw it's getting more serious than he expected, he just tried to order me to not date you anymore. That didn't work either, so now he's getting offensive." John explained. He hated talking about his family with people, but this was something that concerned Claire as well, since it was about her, and though he wasn't going to get in any details, he thought she at least deserved to know.

"Does he only hate me because I'm rich?" Claire was so amezed to hear all this that it was the only thing she thought to ask.

"Yes. He probably believes that you'll take me in your villa and I'll leave the house or some shit." John said, rolling his eyes at the mare idea of that.

"I thought he didn't care for you..." she said, letting her head down.

"He doesn't. But if I move out, who the Hell is he going to beat up? My mom is not enough, she usually faints after 3, 4 hits. It's no fun for him. He needs someone who can actually take all he's got." He took another long puff from the cigarette, not being able to believe he was actually telling her all this.

"John..." Claire said, her voice sounding as if she was breaking again.

"Look, I am alright. Seriously. Go to classes. I'll hang out for a bit more, I need some time. I will come to school the next hour, okay?" he said, putting his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way.

"I don't want to leave you alone..." she protested, trying hard to push away the tears.

"Is just one hour. I've been alone all my life. Trust me, I can handle it." he said.

"Maybe I can't..." she said, on a voice so small it was almost a whisper, but he heard. "Why won't you let me help you?"

"Claire..." he insisted, looking at her a bit upset now. "Seriously, don't piss me off. I will be fine. Just go away! I'll come to you later..."

The girl stared at him for a second, but then she turned around and ran away, going inside of the school. John closed his eyes and left his head down. He hated to make Claire upset but she just didn't understand him. How could she anyway? She was a rich girl, whose biggest family problem was that her parents had many fights. He didn't thought that she wasn't affected or sad because of that, but how could she understand his life? All the pain, all the anger, the inner rage, the desire to die... That he felt every day, every hour, every minute... She couldn't understand...

He sat down on the steps of the school entry, holding his hand on his stomach that was still hurting. His dad had hit him quite hard, and he was somehow able to feel bruises forming over the ones he already had. He was feeling blood on his face but it was probably already dry so he didn't even tried to remove it with his hand. He had to go to the bathroom but he didn't felt like going inside of the school.

"I fucking hate this shit..." he said, letting his head rest on the top of his knees.

"Here." he heard a voice coming from very close to him, and he raised his head up fast.

There was a girl standing in front of him. She was not short but not very tall either, if he would have been up she would have probably got to about his shoulder with the top of her head and she was very thin. She had long, straight black hair and asian brown eyes. She was dressed in a pair of long, leather black pants that looked great on her, decorated with a belt filed of spikes and 3 chains hanging from it. Her top was a long sleeved red shirt with a skull head on it, over which she had a black leather jacket. Her make up was also dark but feminine and she was, probably, the most beautiful rock girl John had ever seen in his life.

She was holding a pack of tissues in her hand, pointed at him and he took them while still staring at her. "They are wet with medical water, it should clean off that blood easily. And you can also have this. If you're feeling any pain around your body, it should make it go away or at least make it smaller." She said, giving him two round, yellow pills.

"Thanks..." he said. "Uhm, who are you? What are you?" he asked confused, before swallowing both of the pills and getting up.

"What am I?" she laughed. "Uhm, I am a girl, a teenager, a human being..." she listed ironically. "And I am japanese, if that's what you wanted to really know."

"Oh, I see." he said, while taking out one of the tissues which were indeed wet and starting to rub it against his face.

"My name is Akane. It means 'Beautiful Red' or 'Bright Red' in my language." she explained, giving his a small smile.

"What does my name mean?" he said, feeling slightly curious.

"Well, tell me your name and I will tell you." She said, arranging her back-pack better in her back.

"John. John Bender." He looked at the tissue that was now all dark red and folded it in half, continuing to press it on his face.

"Only japanese names have a meaning in japanese. But now I know your name at least. John. Sounds beautiful." she said, smirking.

"Are you a new student or something?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. My family recently moved here from New York. Where we had moved from Japan when I was 8 years old." she explained fast, sounding like she didn't wanted to give too many information.

"So... Do you always have medical tissues and painkillers with you?" John asked, raising his eyebrow and looking at her.

"Yes, I do." she said.

"What for?" he kept asking, watching her intriguated.

"Just in case." she answered, on a uncaring tone.

John kept looking at her. She really got with the top of her head to his shoulder, just as he had thought. Her psyshical appearence was small and fragile, but she had something about her that made her look strong and capable to take care of herself. She was not like the other girls. Not like the silly bitches he had been fucking before. Not like the prestine and delicate Princess he was now dating. She was different... She had something in her eyes, a glow of emtyness, that he had been able to read inside his own eyes whenever he looked in the mirror. Whenever he was meeting a girl, he either felt the need to tease her, hit on her or just completely ignore her. But it was not like that with this girl... He wanted to talk to her, get to know her. It was a very weird sensation, since he had never felt that way about anyone else in his life.

"Are you going inside or not?" he asked her, seeing that she was paralysed in place, staring at him back.

"Not really. I don't actually feel like going to classes today. I guess I'll skip."

"Me too." he said, turning his head to look around at the street. "I guess I'll go to a friend to get some weed. I am really out of it."

"I have some." she said fast, looking at him. "I always have some with me. If you want, I can give you."

He looked at her surprised for a second, but then he smiled. "Nice..." he said. "Maybe we could get along."

"Do you know any good place where we can smoke without anyone looking weirdly at us if they see?" Akane asked, giving him the package, which he stuffed fast in his pocket.

"I know quite a few places, actually. Come with me." He said, giving her a smile before starting to walk away, with her fallowing him.

They got to a park that was completely empty, since everyone around was either at school or work at that time. They sat down on a bench and Akane started playing with a lock of her long hair, thinking deeply at something, while John took out a notebook and started ripping pages out of it, to use them at the making of the cigarettes.

She turned around and looked at him. Just looked at him... He was completely fascinating her. From the first moment she saw him, when he was fighting with that silly red-headed girl, she felt a weird jump in her heart, as if he was going to mean something in her life. He was not like all the other guys she had met. Not like the stupid and way too arrogant men from her family, not like the racist imbeciles from her past American schools. This guy looked like her type of man. Simple yet interesting, strong yet not agressive, silly and stubborn and stupid at times, but smart... Just like her...

"You're staring at me." He simply pointed out, while he was rolling up the first cigarette.

"Sorry." the girl said, turning her gaze away fast.

"It doesn't bother me. I was just curious why you do it. Is it something on my face?"

"What? No." she chuckled. "You're just... you look good." she said, turning again to look at him.

"No, I'm not. Everyone always tells me I'm ugly. Especially my parents. At school everyone calls me worthless. A punk, a criminal..." he explained. He sounded disturbed by all this, though he tried to act as if he don't give a shit.

"None of that shit is true." she said. "Trust me on that."

He laughed. "Maybe I am your type of guy, huh?" he said, giving Akane a cigarette and keeping one for himself.

"You have no idea just how much..." she agreed, before letting him light up the cigarette for her. She took a strong and long puff, allowing the smoke to get straight into her lungs before releasing it, with a smile. It was very powerful and she instantly realized it was the pack her brother gave her when he returned from Tokyo. John nearly chocked after the first puff.

"Damn! This shit is hardcore!" he said, making the girl laugh. "Where you got it from?"

"Japan. We are really good at making it." she said, winking at him. "You may keep all the pack. I have more at home."

"Do your parents know you're into it?" he asked, taking another puff, this time being able to hold it all without coughing at all.

"Yes. They don't give much of a fuck about it... never did." she admitted, raising her shoulders in an uncaring shrug.

"I feel you... My old man wouldn't give a fuck even if I dropped down dead. I actually believe I'd be making him a favor." He said, looking away disturbed. "Or maybe not... Cause he wouldn't have any human boxing sack anymore if that happened."

"I feel you back..." she nodded, letting her head down.

"Your folks are aggressive?" he asked, sounding a bit amazed.

"Extremely. My father is a bastard. He beats me up whenever he feels like it, yells at me, makes me feel like shit all the time... Almost raped me twice but I was able to get away..." she explained, still avoiding his look for a reason which she did not understand.

"Damn... And where's your mother when he does that?" he asked.

"She's watching it." the girl simply said, finally raising her head up to look at him. "No one really gives a fuck..."

John didn't say anything, searching for the words in his mind but feeling unable to find the right ones to say. Damn, she was more like him than he had expected. It was pretty amazing... He felt unable to believe such a girl existed.

"Do you have friends?" he asked insted, trying to change the subject.

"Kind of... But I couldn't consider them my friends. They do not understand me. Some of them betrayed me. They would never admit it to my face, but they are all thinking I am a messed up bitch. I rage and talk ugly to them, I act like a maniac sometimes, people who don't know me would probably think I am either severely mental scarred, or just a bitch who enjoys being mean, rude and impolite all the damn time. The truth it, I just wish someone could see me for who I really am... I wish someone would realize how much I actually need them whenever I push them away..." she said.

"You sound like a man." He stated the first thought from his mind, after looking at her for a long moment that felt like an hour.

"Do you believe so?" she asked amused.

"Hell yeah. Or maybe is just that I do not actually want to admit that a girl can be so much like me. No offense."

"Is fine, don't stress, I'm not offended." she giggled.

"Seriously, you are like an Asian version of myself..." he said, his lips parted in an expression of surprise.

"Well, you are as an American version of myself as well, so I guess we're even." Akane laughed and he laughed back. "Red is my favorite color."

"Mine too..." he said amazed. He raised his eyebrow. Now he wanted to dare her. She just how much they really were alike. "I would crawl down in pain on the inside but keep it in, rather than confess that I am hurt to someone who would pity me."

"Me too..." she agreed. "I am somehow mentally damaged and I many times wish I would have never been fucking born."

"Exactly..." He said, nodding his head and smoking his weed cigarette. "People see me as the 'bad kid', and so, they automatically assume that I cannot get hurt, which pisses the fuck out of me."

"Hell yeah..." Akane said, feeling as if this conversation was somehow getting more and more deep. "I act rough whenever I am not at home, just to hide the fact that I am so fucking weak at home…"

He just nodded, feeling unable to say the words in which to agree. "I sometimes hurt others just because I do not want to be the only one who's in pain..."

"Yeah..." Tears were gathering in her eyes. She turned to look at him and he looked back at her. "I am able to have this conversation with you right now, because I honestly feel as if you truly understand me..."

He blinked a few times, before closing his eyes and putting his arm around her shoulders, pushing her closer to him and making her rest her head on his chest. He started caressing her hair with his fingers. "Yeah..." he said, almost in a whisper. "Yeah..."

Thinking back, he didn't remember to have been this gentle even with Claire. He, who used to be so mean with everyone, who always pushed away whoever tried to get close to him, he who had no trust in anyone, was no holding this japanese girl in his arms, feeling her slow breathing on his chest and the tight grip of her hand on his shirt, and to his amazedment, he liked it... He felt as if he didn't had to know anything more about her than he already knew. She was him in girl version, and he was her as a male. That was all that he needed to know.

He gently placed a soft kiss on the top of her head and pushed her away, giving her a smile when she looked up at him. "It is not like me to be nice. I don't know what took over me..."

"I enjoyed that." she said, smiling back, a sad yet so beautiful smile. "It felt good... It was... warm."

"Warm?" he asked.

"Yes. Warm... Cause you felt like you really meant it." she explained. "Did your pain got any smaller?"

"What?" he asked confused. "Oh... I don't feel anything anymore. It passed so fast that I even forgot I was hurt in the first place." he said, remembering fast how he actually met the girl. "Those painkillers you have are strong."

"Yeah... All japanese things are strong and hardcore. Including japanese parents..."

"I'd hate to be japanese. Parents know karate and ninja stuff and shit? That must be aweful." he joked, making her laugh. "Your laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard..." he said, on a more serious, deep tone. He stopped for a moment, and the girl looked at him, a bit confused yet somehow proud and happy of his statement. "Do you know why..?" he asked, and she shacked her head in a 'no' signal. "When you laugh, you sound like someone who hasn't done that for real in a long while now... And it sounds very true, honest... Like you deserve your moment of happiness." He explained.

"Is funny... How you the jerk of the place, yet you can say the most beautiful things I have heard in my life..." she said, with a smile.

"I am only a jerk with the people who deserve it. And you only believe that my words are beautiful because you can fully understand them..." he said.

"That's true..." she admitted, looking straight ahead.

She felt like laughing at the irony of life. She was so pissed off about coming to this town. After 8 years of living in New York, she had gotten really used to being there and when her parents suddenly announced they were moving to Chicago, she felt as if the world had crushed in her head. Fighting against her dad was insanity though, so she had to come. Still, it didn't stop her from bitching about it and feeling as if this new town would be her doom. She for sure wasn't expecting to find someone like John there, and especially from her first day of school. It was as if God had placed his holly hand on top of her head by bringing this boy in her life.

"For the first time in 16 years, someone who can actually understand, someone who really knows me without knowing me... Incredible..." she said outloud. She had meant to say that in her mind, but the words escaped her lips and she didn't actually regret saying them. "I have searched so much for someone like you... Someone like me..."

"You're telling me. Hell, I was convinced that God had not created someone like me on this planet and that I'll have to spend my whole life alone just because of that. I do have some friends... Andy, Allison and Brian. We met in a detention, 3 months ago... I never believed I would find friends in detention." he laughed. "And Claire..."

"The girl with red hair that was with you earlier?" Akane asked.

"Yes... Her. She is my official girlfriend. She says she loves me and I believe her... But..."

"But she doesn't understand." Akane finished the sentance for him.

"Not at all... And she acts as if I am a small, defenceless child that she has the duty to protect. Pisses me off..."

"Oh yeah... I know what you mean. My last boyfriend was like that. He was a really nice guy and he sacrificed a lot for me. But even if he tried, he couldn't understand. He was making me feel as if I was retarded and I couldn't do anything at all alone. Besides, he was making me feel guilty as fuck whenever he was crying because of me."

"What did you do?" John asked, amazed about how much Akane's last boyfriend reminded him of Claire.

"Left him? I reached my limit after 7 months. I couldn't bare having someone who could not understand or take my shit. His parents were nice people. Too nice, maybe. They spoiled him and he had no idea what it is to ever be hit. He wasn't able to have any type of emphaty with me, so... I decided to forget about him. It was better that way."

"It most probably was." John agreed.

"What will you do about the red-head girl?" Akane asked, looking at him.

"I have no damn idea... She sacrificed a lot for me. Her reputation and he friends and her almost everything. Wouldn't it be cruel to just abandon her after all that?" he asked the girl, but he felt as if he was putting that question to himself.

"Isn't it already cruel? Someone who doesn't understand the pain of being in our shoes can not cope with the pain of seeing us suffering and being unable to help. They would just want to save us..."

"When what we want is for them to accept that they can not actually do shit to help..." he agreed.

"Just embrace us the way we are..." she said.

"Be there when we need them to be there... Leave when we want to be alone..." he continued.

"And just love us even when we say we do not need love..." she finished.

They both looked at each other and smiled. Their smiles were sad, but true and they didn't felt like strangers at all. Finding someone who shares your exact life style makes you feel as if you grew up with them. That's exactly how they felt.

"Talking to you is like talking to myself..." Akane confessed.

"Indeed it is... You said you forgot about that guy. Made it sound as if it was easy to forget..." he said, letting his head down for a second before looking at her again, with the most charming smirk he possessed. "Will you forget about me?"

"Even if we would never speak again in our life, I could never forget about you... It would be like forgetting about myself." she said, giggling.

He smiled satisfyed and threw the finished cigarette on the ground, stepping on it while getting up from the bench. Akane got up as well and went next to him. She grabbed him by the shirt and made him let his head down by placing both of her hands around his shoulders. She kissed him and he kissed her back. A soft kiss on the lips, but it has such a powerful meaning and so many feelings. The day he met Claire, he first kissed her after 8 hours. He was now kissing Akane after maybe less than an hour since they met. He was kissing this girl, who had appeared so suddenly yet had shaked everything inside of him. He liked Claire from the first day he saw her. Now, after 3 months of relationship, he could say he liked Claire a damn lot. But Akane... He knew he could end up loving her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Let's see... Worst thing that has ever happaned to you?" Akane asked, looking staright at John.

"Being born?" he said, after a moment of thinking.

She laughed a bit and shake her head. "No... I mean, your worst memory. Something that, no matter how hard you tried, you were never able to fully forget and you doubt you ever will." she explained.

He took a moment to think, while playing with his finger on the beer can he had in his hands. Him and Akane had decided to spend the day together, so they went and grabbed something to drink and, after a small walk around, they stood back down in a park and started talking. John had never thought he could ever enjoy talking to someone so much. But he wanted to know everything about this girl. And for some reason, he didn't minded her knowing everything about him as well.

"Uhm... When I was around 12 years old, my old man came home drunker than ever. He started raging for no real reason, and I was able to see my mom get freaked out. After he fight with her for like an hour and beat her, he moved on to me. He beat me so hard, I wasn't able to move out of bed for the next 3 days. And even if after that it all just started growing worse and worse, is that time that I was never actually able to forget. Because it was so pointless, because I have seriously done nothing wrong that time. Usually, he has some sort of reason. And if he doesn't, he at least tries to invent one. But that time, he didn't even stressed on trying to find one... He just did it, as if it was fine, as if it was natural, as if I was made for the mare purpose of being his hitting sack. For some reason, it just felt so wrong and painful, more than usual... I guess that it was when I discovered he doesn't seriously need a real reason to do it..."

He looked straight up ahead while saying it all, his expression and voice betraying the real inner pain that he was holding in. He didn't look at her at all, but she didn't mind. Akane somehow knew and felt that it wasn't like him to confess this kind of things to people. Especially to strangers. But she wasn't a stranger... They both felt like that. And she felt so happy he actually already trusted her enough to tell her things he probably never told to even his closest friends.

"When I was 10 years old, my father took me to my uncle's villa from Shizuoka, in Japan... That house was huge, and it was very close to the ocean..." she said, looking at John.

"That is your worst memory?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. "What is so wrong about that?"

"He left me there..." she said, letting her had down. "I had to stay there for like a month. My uncle treated me even worse than my dad. And he made me do stuff to him... Like rub him and suck him off and things as such... But I was 10, I didn't understood what it was. I thought it to be a weird game grown ups play. He told me_ it was _a game. I have no doubts that to him it really felt like just a game... I didn't knew what I was really doing while I was trying so hard not to choke with that thing in my mouth... I didn't knew what he was doing when he sticked it in me... I just knew I didn't like it. I knew it hurt..."

"Jesus Christ..." John said, his lips parting in a expression of amazement.

"My dad tried to do it as well, but I was always able to escape him or avoid it. But my uncle... I could never really avoid him or escape him. He was always able to do whatever he wanted and no one was able to stop him. No one even tried to stop him to begin with... After my grandfather died, he remained as the head of my father's family, cause he was the oldest one... Even my father is afraid of him..." She took a really big sip of her beer, to calm her nerves down and stop herself from saying anything else, sine memories were starting to invade her mind.

"How big is your family?" John asked, feeling as if this girl's case was a bit worse than his, since she seemed to have more people able to abuse her, unlike in his case, where it was just his father.

"My dad has 5 brothers and 2 sisters... They all have children of their own, I have around 20 cousins... My mom was an only child though..." Akane explained. "I have 2 brothers. One is 2 years younger than me, one is 3 years older... The older one moved back to Tokyo to go to college. My younger brother will attend high-school here as well. He is in the 9-th grade, his name is Shou..."

"Wow... That sounds like a big family... For me, apart from my mom and dad, I have no notion of any other family. I know my dad has a brother but I never met him, I have no idea where he is. My grandparents are all dead, and my mom's younger sister lives in England so I never met her either... I also have no brothers or sisters."

"That sounds awesome..."

"You believe?"

"The less, the better..."

"Could be... You and your brothers get along?"

"I get along with Shou. He is the only guy from my family that doesn't treat me like a slave. My older brother beat me up when he had the occasion... In my family, there is this tradition that says all women are slaves. From when we are born, we're seen as nothing. We grow up beliving we were brought to this world to serve men and they teach us that in the most brutal and harsh wasys possible... And in the same way, they teach the boys that they are better and superior and that they must become jerks..." she looked away again and took out a cigarette from her pack. She felt the need for a smoke. "My brother, Shou... He was the only one who ever asked 'why'... Why are women slaves? Why can't me and him play together like normal brothers, why does he have to be cruel? Our uncle didn't like that..."

"I assume the kid got it?" John asked.

"Yeah... He started making questions when he was 8. Our uncle said that if he likes women so much, he'll be treated as one... So, he's the only male from the family who was made into a slave, and that just because he doesn't like being a Master..."

"Your family is fucking sick..." John said, sounding deeply disturbed.

"Yeah, I know... I am just 16, but I already have my life planned by my family. I must grow up, learn to be a great slave girl, than marry a man that they will chose for me, who will become my Master. And take all his bullshit and accept all his abuse. And when I will have babies, if they are girls, I have to teach them to be slaves... And if they'll be boys, I have to treat them like Kings and make sure they become Masters..." She took a long puff from her cigarette and closed her eyes, trying hard to stop the tears that were ready to drop.

"What if you refuse? What if you run away?" John asked fast.

"I could try... But if they find me, they will murder me..." she explained. "And they won't even feel sorry about it..."

"That's fucking disgusting... Why is your family like that?"

"Is a tradition... It happened for generations and it keeps on happening. It's a huge, painful chain, filled of blood, tears and anger, that everyone is too scared to break... My father and all his brothers were grown to be Masters. It was all they knew. My grandfather was very strict and cruel... he turned them in some sort of... brainless, heartless machines, that only know to cause pain... My grand-grand-father did the same to his children, cause his father has done it to him... My brothers and cousins will do it to their children and it will keep going on..."

"But why? What for? What's the good in all this?" John was starting to feel revolted.

"You're asking me... I always wondered. It must have started from someone and it just never stopped..."

"If it makes you feel any better, know that I think all of that crap is bullshit. And that you're a really great girl... And you deserve much more than that." he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

He was not good at comforting people or making compliments. He was used to offend and annoy everyone, insult them, make them feel like crap. And when he was not doing that, he was just being ironic. Even with Claire. He had never been nice to everyone, or tried to compliment someone, cause he never felt the need to do it, mainly because he had never seriously met someone who he thought would deserve that kind of attention from him. Everything about Akane was a first for him... First asian girl he met, first person who was just like him, first girl that he actually felt the need to treat nice...

"You're so unique..." he said, moving his hand up. He kicked away with the back of his palm the part of her hair that was covering her face, and started caressing her face with his thumb, looking deep inside her eyes. "More unique than you could believe..."

"I could say the same about you..." she smiled.

She went a bit closer to him, closing her eyes and waiting for a long kiss. That, however, did not happen. A voice called her name and she shivered at the sound, opening her eyes and nearly jumping up from the bench in a second.

"There you were! Thank you for leaving me alone!" the boy who just appeared said.

He was looking straight at the girl, with a pissed off expression. He was just a bit taller than her and he has short, spiky blonde hair. He was asian as well, probably japanese though, most certainly her younger brother, John thought in his mind fast. He was dressed in a pair of large jeans and he had a red and white letterman jacket on top.

"Sorry, I just didn't felt like school today... Please, don't tell dad!" the girl said fast, sounding scared.

"He was the last idiot on this planet I intended to talk to today." the boy said, still sounding pissed. "But you should have been with me there, damn it!"

"Sorry..." Akane said again.

"Who is this guy?" the kid asked, turning to stare at John.

"Oh... His name is John Bender. John, he is my brother, Shou..." she introduced them.

"I was pretty sure that he was your younger brother. You too kind of look alike." John said. "You're a jock though, huh? After seeing Akane I was picturing you more like a heavy rock kid."

"You told him about me?" Shou asked his sister, ignoring everything else John said said.

"Yeah... Just a bit." she said.

"What else have you said to him? Where did you took him from anyway?"

"Can you stop it already? He's just a friend. And I didn't tell him much! Just some...basic stuff..." she said, sounding like she suddenly felt guilty.

"Basic stuff?" John asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You can't go around talking to people like that, Akane! Especially men! You know that you've been promised to Akira!" Shou said, coming closer to his sister.

"I am NOT dating that guy, no matter how much dad wants me to. He's a fucking jerk and I don't like him at all and he's a Yakuza, for fuck's sake!" Akane answered revolted.

"He's a what?" John asked confused.

"A Yakuza... Japanese gangster." the girl explained fast.

"Oh..." John said, nodding in a understanding way.

"I know you don't like him, I don't like him either. But he's the one that they chose for you! If dad finds you going around with other guys, you'll get punished!" the japanese boy continued, his voice tone changing from raged to worried.

"I know what I'm doing, Shou, I am a big girl. And I am sick of all this bullshit... And I will date who the Hell I want to!" she said. "And stop staring at me like that, I am not dating John. We just met and he already has someone anyway!"

"That's true.." John said, feeling as if reality had just stroke him when Akane said that.

"I don't care. You're coming with me." Shou said, grabbing the girl's wrist.

"Where?" she asked confused.

"Home? School is over!" he said, starting to get pissed off once more.

"...Is it?"

Akane and John looked at each other confused and then started to laugh. "I can't believe we've been sitting around for 8 hours and we didn't realized." he said.

"Yeah... It was fun." she admitted, with a smile.

"It sure was..." he smirked back at her.

"Okay, now let's go!" Shou insisted, started to drag Akane away by her hand.

She walked together with him, but continued to look back at John. She pushed her brother away fast, running back to John and jumping in his arms, pressing her lips over his in a long kiss.

"Don't you forget me..." she said in his ear.

"I won't..." he whispered her back.

"For the name of Satan, come on already! If we're late we'll both get punished and I am not getting my ass kicked because of you!" her brother said, grabbing her a second time and pulling her away from John.

She laughed and walked together with him. "See you tomorrow, my Criminal!" she said loud.

John giggled and waved his hand to her. _'My Criminal... I like that. Sounds good.'_ he said in his mind, with a smile on his face. He started walking away, thinking only about her and her kiss, her voice, her words... He was also wondering if he should go around and find something to do or just return home. Home was never a place he felt like going to, so if he'd get a second option, he was going to take it without thinking much. Sometimes, he would rather hang around outside without doing nothing at all but pretending he's busy, just to avoid going back home. It was something normal to him.

Passing by the front of the high-school, he saw Claire stading there, looking all over the place, and it was then when he finally recalled that he had promised her he'd go to school that day. She was probably now pissed and worried. The last thing he needed...

"Where have you been? You promised you'd come! I waited for you!" she started screaming, as soon as he got next to her.

_'God, she's acting just like Akane's brother...' _he thought to himself, rolling his eyes. "Look, I've been busy with stuff. I always skip school, you should have realized that by now. You know me for 3 months and you don't understand shit about me..."

"That is because you are not letting me! You never talk to me about yourself and you keep lying to me all the time... How can I understand when you are never honest?" she almost yelled.

"How about we discuss this later?" he said, placing his hand on her shoulder and moving a step foreword, desiring to leave.

"No, John!" she said, grabbing hold of his hand to stop him from leaving. "You always say that and the 'later' never comes! Why do you treat me this way?"

"Look what, Claire. Even if you tried your best you wouldn't be able to understand me, so why don't you just stop trying?" he said, turning back to look straight in her face.

She stared at him for a second, with a confused expression. "Who... Who have you been with today?" she asked, after some few seconds.

"What?" he asked back, surprised by her question.

She placed her index finger on his lips and took it off, staring at it. "You have lipstick on your lips." she stated.

"Oh great..." he said, cleaning his lips with his sleeve.

"Is that what you were busy with today? Fucking some other girl?" Claire sounded as if she didn't knew if she was angry, sad or hurt.

"No, it was not like that..." John tried to explain.

"Then how was it like? Who did you kiss?" she asked, now starting to be annoyed.

"Just some girl."

"Just some girl?"

"Look, this is none of your business!"

"It is my business, you are my damn boyfriend, damn it! Or am I just another one of your 'considerations'? Like all those girls in your wallet!"

"No, you are not, so stop it!"

"Stop treating me like I am one, then!"

She started crying, crossing her arms on her chest, as if she wanted to be strong but she just couldn't. John's mind was filled of so much confussion that it was almost painful, feeling stuck in between the girl he had been dating for the past months and the girl he had just met that day, who already had drove him wild. He didn't knew what he felt anymore, what he wanted... Before, seeing Claire crying would have made him feel broken hearted, but now, after meeting Akane and realizing that there really are girls who cry for serious matters and who suffer for real, he didn't felt so much compasion anymore...

"You should stop crying. Your mascara will go all over the place and you'll look ugly." he said, trying to amuse her.

"Shut up! You really are a criminal. You just broke my heart..." she said, pushing him away.

"Some girls think criminals are cool." he said, smiling in his mind, thinking of Akane.

"What?" Claire asked.

"Nothing, just saying." he said fast. "When you pass over the drama moment and decide you seriously want to talk, you know where to find me." he added, before turning his back and leaving.

A small part of him felt really bad about doing this to Claire, but the bigger part of him, where Akane was, didn't gave a shit. He didn't understood how this girl managed to get inside his brain that fast. Was it seriously just because she understood him? It probably wasn't. Maybe it was much more than that... She liked him. She felt as if she wouldn't have wanted to change anything about him. She sounded as if she was so impressed by him. He didn't had to do anything special or stupid or silly in order to get her to like him. Just by being himself, he had her mesmerized. Maybe that was what created all the magic. She liked him for him...

_'I want that girl... I want her.'_

"That guy looked like a huge moron." Shou said, as him and Akane were walking together on the road back home.

"Oh, come on. He was amazing!" she said back, disturbed by his comment.

"He looks like the worst type of punk you could have picked from the streets." her brother continued, holding on to his opinion.

"He was kind to me, Shou... He was tender. He treated me nice and he made me laugh. He told me I am special... He understood me, brother." she said, on a dreamy and happy voice, a beautiful smile on her lips.

"You are having such a crush..." the boy said, looking at his sister's day-dreaming expression.

"Your point is?" she said, uncaring.

"My point is that you should damn wake up! Maybe he really is a good guy, but you said he already has a girl. And you have a guy you must stay with!"

"I can kick that girl out of the picture, do not worry. And I already told you that I will not date Akira." she said, decided.

"You are digging your own grave, Akane... And you're pulling this guy into it as well. Do you have any idea what dad would do to him if he found out? What uncle Akihito would do?" Shou said, sounding worried and kind of desperate.

"Father and uncle Akihito will not find out about John. He will be my secret. And you will help me keep him secret." she told him, smiling.

"You can not be serious..." the boy said.

"Oh, but I am. I just met him today, but this past 8 hours have been the best of my entire existence and he is the most perfect guy for me. I know if I let go, I will regret it forever... I want John, brother.. I really want him. And he will be mine. You will see."

I hope you will all like this! The next chapter will come out in a few days. If I have any mistakes, please forgive me, I am not a native english speaker. I am trying to write as good as I can though. Please review and enjoy ^^


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